Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-128235 discloses a structure, wherein multiple article support bodies oriented in the direction perpendicular to a main conveying path are attached between a pair of left and right endless rotary bodies installed along the main conveying path, guided bodies are provided on the rear surface side of article transverse pushing bodies guided by the article support bodies, and a guide device for guiding the guided bodies is provided. The article support body has a flat article-carry plate section, a pair of leg plate sections installed consecutively in the direction of the main conveying path from the middle section of the rear surface of the article carry plate section, a front plate section extending downward from the front end of the article carry plate section, a step-like front bottom plate section connecting the lower end of the front plate section with the lower end of the front leg plate section, a rear plate member extending downward from the rear end of the article carry plate section, and a step-like rear bottom plate section connecting the lower end of the rear plate section with the lower end of the rear leg plate section.
The article transverse pushing body is fitted over the article support body and is formed to have a rectangular tubular shape from an upper plate member facing the article carry plate section from above, a front plate member facing the front plate section from the front, a rear plate member facing the rear plate section from behind, and a bottom plate member facing the bottom plate section and the like from below. A guided section that is joined and slidably guided between the two leg plate sections is formed in the bottom plate member. The upper part of the action section comprises a front-half portion that is tilted linearly so as to rise toward the rear section, a horizontal rear-half portion connected to the upper end of the front-half portion, and a vertical rear end surface portion.
Furthermore, branch conveyors forming branch paths that are inclined outwardly and downwardly with respect to the main conveying path are provided outwardly at both sides of the main frame. Furthermore, above a step on the inner side where the endless rotary bodies are installed and the outward guide rail section is formed in the upper frame member, an upper cover is disposed for covering the step from above.
With the configuration of this conventional example, an article is supported and conveyed with a group of article support bodies that are moved as a unit driving the endless rotary bodies, and the guided bodies are guided by a group of guide devices that move the article transverse pushing bodies in this process, thereby enabling the group of article transverse pushing bodies to push the articles in the transverse direction. As a result, the articles are moved above the upper cover and transferred to the branch path.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H6-115680 discloses a top part of a shoe, wherein, the surface of the front part of the surface section is formed as a linear tilted surface that descends toward the front surface section with the transition to the front surface section, and the front edge of the tilted surface is formed so as to be positioned below the conveying surface at an angle steeper than the tilting angle of the tilted surface. Furthermore, the surface of the rear part of the surface section is formed as a horizontal surface connected to the upper surface of the front section surface and the rear surface is formed as a linear tilted surface that descends with the transition to the rear end and a vertical rear surface.
However, with the configuration of the aforementioned conventional example (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-128235), when the supplied articles are from a soft easily deformable material or when the orientations of the articles are disordered, there is a risk of the article being squeezed between a vertical rear-end surface portion of an upper article transverse pushing body and a linear tilted front-half portion of the rear article sidewise pushing body at the time the transverse pushing is started.
Similarly, with the configuration of the aforementioned another conventional example (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H6-115680), there is also a risk of the article being squeezed between a linear tilted surface or vertical rear surface of the upper shoe and the front edge formed at a steep angle in the rear shoe. Furthermore, the article or article transverse pushing body (shoe) is damaged by squeezing.
Furthermore, with the configuration of the aforementioned conventional example (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-128235), the upper surface of the upper cover or the branch conveying surface (upper surface of the rollers) of the branch path is positioned at a level lower than the upper surface of the article support bodies. For this reason, the article is moved to the branch with a drop, that is, shaken in the vertical direction, with respect to the upper surface of the upper cover or the branch conveying surface of the branch path and, therefore, there is a risk of the article being damaged or the article noise being generated. Moreover, for example, if the article itself is soft or when the packaging material of the article is soft and hangs down at the upper surface due to flexion thereof, when the article is transferred from the upper surface of the article support body to the upper surface of the upper cover during the branch movement, the hanging portion thereof enters below the cover and cannot be moved above the upper cover.